1963 Grand Sport History Home Page

1963 Grand Sport History Home Page: "1963 Grand Sport History


In early 1962, Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus Duntov began top secret work on a Corvette purpose-built race car to win Sebring and Le Mans and more specifically -- to put an end to the humiliating losses Chevrolet had suffered at the hands of Carrol Shelby and his Cobras.

The envisioned Grand Sport would be the ultimate Corvette, a lightweight, tremendously powerful factory built racer. Mounted with a 377cid small block with Weber side-draft carburetors (see the photo, below), it dynoed at 550hp at 6400rpm and was designed to blow the hoods off Shelby's Cobras. And if the Ferraris and Fort GT 40's were also left in the dust, so much the better."